The reason I asked is because I thought your engine had had some break-in time on a test stand. I don't know what kind of mix, prop, etc. you are using but I can tell you my crrc 26 has only been run for about 2 hours on a home made engine test stand and at first it took about 80 flips to get it started. Second and third starts also took a lot of flips. Then I realized I was going a little over board with priming and the engine was getting flooded. After that, the next couple of times only took a few flips. I am using a 25:1 mix of high octane/standard 2 cycle oil. Prop is a 16/8 wood Zinger and a 4.8v battery pack. My engine seems to transition very well from low to high even though most of the running has been from 2000 to 3500 rpm with short full throttle bursts. The only adjustment I've made so far is a very slight leaning of the high needle, everything else is still stock. Maybe it will help to know what kind of gas mix, prop and battery you are using.